john f. kennedy space center brevard county, florida - Environmental ...

NAME(S): Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) Disassembly and Refurbishment Complex Historic
District
FACILITY NO(S): 66250 (Hangar AF); 66251 (High Pressure Gas Facility); 66240 (High
Pressure Wash Facility); 66242 (First Wash Building); 66244 (SRB Recovery Slip); 66310 (SRB
Paint Building); 66320 (Robot Wash Building); 66249 (Thrust Vector Control Deservicing
Building); 66340 (Multi-Media Blast Facility)
FLORIDA MASTER SITE FILE NO: 8BR1996
LOCATION: This district contains a total of 20 (9 contributing, 11 non-contributing) assets
located within the Hangar AF area within the Industrial Area of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
(CCAFS).
PROPERTY TYPE: Vehicle Processing Facilities; Resources associated with Space Flight
Recovery
DATE(S): 1963-1992
ARCHITECT/ENGINEER: Hangar AF was originally built by the Paul Smith Construction
Company, and transformed into the SRB Recovery and Disassembly Facility in 1978 by the
Holloway Corporation.
USE (ORIGINAL/CURRENT): Hangar AF, as well as the High Pressure Gas Facility, were
originally built to support Project Mercury and the Apollo Program. The other 7 contributing
resources were built specifically to support the Space Shuttle Program. Currently, all assets
within the district are involved in the processing of the Shuttle SRBs.
HISTORICAL DATA: Most of the contributing resources within the historic district were
constructed between 1979 and 1992 to support the Space Shuttle Program. Exceptions include
Hangar AF (1962) and the High Pressure Gas Facility (1963). Hangar AF, originally named the
Saturn Support Facility, was used as the Saturn IB and Saturn V staff headquarters and
administrative support offices. It supported Project Mercury, and later the modification, assembly
and check-out of the Titan-Centaur shroud for the Viking program. In 1976, designs for
modifications to Hangar AF were prepared by Sverdrup Parcel and Associates of Jacksonville.
Modifications to transform Hangar AF into the SRB Recovery and Disassembly Facility were
made by the Holloway Corporation between January 1977 and the end of 1978. Work under this
$3.2 million contract included construction of the barge slip. Ivey’s Steel Erectors, Inc. was
awarded a contract in September 1982 for construction of a new SRB Paint Facility, completed in
March 1983.
Currently, the nine facilities which contribute to the historic district are functionally related as
processing facilities for the Shuttle SRBs. The sequential operations which link these assets begin
approximately two minutes after launch when the two SRBs are jettisoned. Following their
retrieval by ship, the SRBs are taken to the disassembly facility located in and around Hangar AF
at CCAFS. Here a 200-ton straddle lift crane over the SRB Recovery Slip lifts the SRBs out of
the water for their first wash to rid them of all saltwater contamination. The frustums and
parachutes are offloaded from the ships and placed on transporters. The frustums are moved into
Hangar AF for assessment and disassembly.